A Thin Line Between Darkness and Light
by Goku Girl
Summary: A Bra story. She gets accused of something she did not do and it's up to Trunks, Goten, and Pan to help her.


Disclaimer: I didn't create Dragon Ball, blah blah blah, Akira Toriyama-san did, yadda yadda yadda, I'm not trying to make money, etc. etc. etc. So there!

Note: I'm really trying to expand past the humor into something more so this will seriously lack humor and will probably give you nightmares. Okay, so I lied on the last part. I'm not good enough to induce fear. So sue me.

Note #2: I have no idea why my stories have been mostly about Bra lately so don't ask. ^_^

Timeline: Bra is 20, Pan is 18, Trunks is 32, Goten is 31 and this is after Dragon Ball GT (I actually choose to abide by the timeline rules ::gasp!::).

A plea: Please ignore the small fact that they're in Japan, not the United States. You'll see why in a moment.

Warning: Bra torture and sort of dark. (my first angst filled fic!)

Two single quotes (') are thoughts, two astericks (**) are flashbacks, and a word between two astericks (*example*) is stressed. There are more but I'm sure that you'll catch them. You're all bright people.

* * *

**A Thin Line Between Darkness and Light**

Bra laughed merrily at the antics of her older brother Trunks and his best friend Son Goten. Trunks was currently in the process of giving Goten the most uncomfortable wedgie in his life.

It was Christmas Eve. The tree was all set up (at Goten's insistence), the presents wrapped, and the tinsel hung. The four of them were hanging out at Bra's new apartment this year, trying to stay away from family. It was located about 30 minutes away from the main city where the Capsule Corporation was located, in an older neighborhood. It wasn't that it was bad. In fact, Bulma would have said that it had rustic charm. After the laughter of course.

"Guys!" Pan said over Bra's laughter. "You're too old to be playing around like this!"

"No we're not," Trunks said as Goten pulled his boxers back into place. "I'm still young."

"Niichan," Bra countered. "You're 32."

"And?"

Bra sighed and shook her head as she went into the kitchen of her small apartment to check the cookies in the oven. She sort of regretted that she chose to make it on her own without her parents help, but Trunks often reminded her that she was doing the right thing.

As she grabbed a pair of oven mits from the counter there was a knock at the door.

"Can someone get that?" she called. "I'm a little busy at the moment." She opened the oven door to check and then she paused. "That's funny. I wasn't expecting anyone else tonight." Shrugging she returned to her task.

A few minutes later, a worried looking Pan came into the room. "Uh, B-chan? I think you need to be in here for this one...."

Bra straightened up and shot her best friend a puzzled look. "Why?" But shutting the oven door firmly, she followed anyway.

When the pair had returned to the living room, she was met with the weirdest thing.

There were two police officers in her living room.

"Officers?" She said slowly, as she removed the oven mits. Coming closer, she saw that both Goten and her brother were shooting her looks. "Is there something wrong?"

"Are you Ms. Bra Briefs?" one of them, a tall man shaped much like a willow tree, asked.

She nodded. "Hai. And you are...?" Letting the question hang in the air for a moment, she spared a few glances for her guests. They didn't have a clue to what was going on.

The older and balder one pulled out a pair of handcuffs. "We have a warrant for you arrest."

"Na-nani?!" She shrieked.

Bringing her arms behind her back, he cuffed them firmly even as he read her the Miranda Rights.

"You have the right to remain silent. Anything can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can not afford an attorney, one will be provided for you by the city of Satan. Do you understand all of this?"

"Hai," she answered. "What I don't understand is what I've done! Can you please inform me?"

"Ms. Briefs," the slender one said. "You fit the description of a highly dangerous criminal that is wanted in several areas for robbery and assault, grandtheft auto, homicide, and various other crimes."

"I-I-I do?"

He nodded. "There is also a lot of evidence pointing toward you. We have to take you in for questioning."

Bra's eyes widened as she looked upon her friends and family. "Guys! Tell them it wasn't me! Tell them!"

"Let's go," The officers slowly guided her from the apartment. Bra turned tear-filled eyes onto to the trio as she pleaded one last time for help.

"Tell them!"

As the door softly clicked shut, a lone tear slid down her brother's sorrowful face.

***

The hallway was cold.

That was precisely the first thing that Bra noticed as she was shoved through the grated metal sercurity doors by the guards who led her.

Convicted.... Solitary confinement... These things floated through her numb mind all in a blur. None of it made sense at the moment but she knew that would someday. Someday soon.

As they literally yanked her down the hallway, she noticed that she was not alone.

There were people in here as well. Other females in various states of moods. Some were asleep or quietly staring at one of the many blank walls as if sometime in the near future it was going to burst into a bright multitude of colors. But most were jeering at her. Taunting with all they were worth.

And they were all awfully good at it.

"What ya in for girly?" One butch looking blond asked her before spitting at her feet. Bra pointedly turned her face away, after the initial disgusted look, and thought that the other woman would take a hint. But luck was not on her side at this moment.

"Are you ignoring me Bitch? I don't take too well to people like you. Stuck up bitches who think they better than everyone else. But I got somethin' to tell ya." She crossed her arms and glared for all to see. "In here, you just another criminal. Just like everybody else."

"But," Bra instantly protested. "I'm not! I'm innocent!"

"That's what they all say sweetie." She paused briefly. "Those who really *_are_* innocent and those that are compulsive liars. But who can tell the truth?"

Bra reflected briefly on her words even as she was led to yet another door.

"Wait!" She said as she looked at the structure. "I thought that I was supposed to be in this area."

"You," one sneered, "are a murderer. That area's reserved women who have committed simple crimes. Once such as armed robbery."

"Yeah," the other agreed. "Your area is," he paused for effect. "through these doors." And with that, he punched a code into the keypad by the door. It slid open noislessly as they shoved her into another hallway.

It was deathly quiet and still like someone had died and the others were afraid that they would be accused.

'_That's probably what happened_,' she thought humorlessly. '_And I'm next_.'

After a moment, she could hear faint sounds like none other. In addition to the sobbing that seemed so common in this area, there was muffled shrieking. A sound that went straight deep into her soul and shook her from head to toe. There were also other noises she cared not to identify.

She was taken to a cell all the way at the end of the row and tossed inside. As the locked clicked back into place, Bra moved over to sit in a corner, gathering her orange jumpsuit around her for warmth. She had a feeling that she would be in here for a very long while.

A very long while indeed.

***

"We can't just sit here!" Trunks exclaimed as he paced the length of the living room. "My little sister is locked in jail for something that she didn't even do!"

"I know," Bulma said brokenly as she typed rapidly. "I'm trying the best that I can."

It was seven days after the incident. Seven days since she had been arrested and four days since she was sent to prison. Trunks had spent majority of those seven days debating whether he should handle it alone of not. Pan and Goten had spent those days yelling at him to do something.

_"I know that she didn't do it!" _he had cried._ "But I have no idea how to free her!"_

But even now, the thoughts rose up from where he had firmly locked them in a corner of his mind. To plague him. To haunt him. To slowly drive him insane.

And through all of this, Vegeta leaned against the wall of a shadowy corner. Silent and ever watchful. Almost merging with the wall itself.

Trunks steadfastly ignored the mere presence of his father and focused on something more important.

Setting his imoutochan free.

"Okay," Bulma muttered to herself. Then her voice was raised to attract the attention of her son and husband. "She has been convicted of murder, robbery and assault, theft..."

"I know all of that!" her son snapped impatiently. "How to we get her out?"

Bulma gritted her teeth at the tone of his voice. "We can't."

Trunks and Vegeta both looked up at that. "Excuse me?" They said in unison.

"I said that it's impossible to get her out!" Bulma stood from her seat and turned her tearful gaze onto her son. "The government is trying a new program. It's supposed to 'rehabilitate' the criminals. If they prove that they've changed after a certain period of time, they are free to go."

"How long is that?" Vegeta asked in a hushed whisper. "How long does Bra-chan have to stay in that place?"

Bulma hung her head as she sobbed freely. "Thirty years to life."

***

Darkness. Impenetrable darkness. The kind that all nightmares were made of.

Bra had lost all notion of time. In fact, all rational thought had been flushed from her mind by the drug that they had put her on. It was as if she was completely swathed in cotton, her senses were numbed that much.

The bolt on the door clicked hollowly as it was unlocked and opened. Bra did not make an attempt to move at all nor was she ever going to. The loud sound of booted feet echoed on the hard stone floor but Bra still did not move. Then a latino woman stepped into the cell.

Shaking the cobwebs from her head, she moved one blue eye in the woman's direction.

"It's time," the other spoke simply.

Nodding slightly, the younger let them take her to a room off into another building.

"We are going to try a new form of treatment on her," a voice whispered to a colleague while she displayed a file. "This states that the girl has various mental ailments. I will work to rid her of them." Her tone changed to one of longing. "The recognition of my betters has been within my grasp for a while now," she said. "I will gain their notice and then proceed to move up the ranks soon becoming known to all!"

Two figures, one male and one female, sat in a large room full of various instruments, tools, and machines. The woman, all though attractive, had a slightly sinister look about her. Her pale face was surrounded by a mass of curly, brown hair that shimmered slightly in the harsh overhead light and her dark eyes were slitted in dark joy. Her companion, a dark headed man of indeterminable age, sat boredly next to her. Appearing to listen but actually hoping that a bus would hit her later on, he had light brown eyes and face that would be better suited to smiling. They both wore white lab coats with I.D. tags that clearly labeled them as licensed psychiatrists.

The man, Dr. Wotokachi, was unfazed. "But Dr. Neuveau, you must first begin."

"Hai," she agreed. "Lets."

The woman, the same one who had escorted her to that room, moved into range of the large windows of the observation area. Giving a nod, she informed the good doctor that all was well and should start.

"And so it begins," Wotokachi intoned even as Neuveau shushed him.

Bra relaxed completely against her restraints. Struggling would get her no where. She was bluntly informed of that in the beginning.

_**Tomorrow, you will be in for your first treatments. The woman, who's name was Mari, had said. Our files say that you have deep set mental and emotional problems Ms. Briefs." Opening her arms in what seemed like a welcoming gesture she added something else. "We are here to help you."_

_A *__**very**__* Vegeta-like snort was emitted from an extremely disgruntled Bra. "If you were here to help, you would have listened to me when I said I wasn't crazy or a criminal!"_

_"Shh. Shh. It's okay," Mari had attempted to soothe. But Bra would have none of it. Making her right hand into a fist, she punched her dead in the face, hopefully breaking a bone or two._

_"Listen you idiot!" she had screamed, grabbing her shoulders to administer a good shake. "I am *__**not**__* insane. I am *__**not**__* a criminal. And I want out of this dank, cold, cramped, and rotten prision cell. Do you have that?!"_

_The guards by the door had pulled her back harshly as Mari stood, all former traces of her earlier kindness gone. Her face was contorted into a vicious snarl as she backhanded Bra into silence._

_"You will pay for that Bitch," she had growled. Snapping her fingers, she marched off barking out an order. "Give her a double dose. Make sure that she's out for the rest of the day."_

_"Yes ma'am," her assistant had said. "Pulling out what had to be the largest needle she had ever seen in her lifetime, he savagely stuck it into her arm. "Nighty night, punk." He hissed as the world faded to black.**_

She shuddered faintly as she felt the electrodes connected to her head probe her mind. Reaching into it's depths and examining all of her innermost thoughts. Her secret hopes, fears, and dreams. It was a privacy violation of the worst kind.

Oh, they would pay for this when she finally got free from this torture. No matter if it was later today, tomorrow, or three years from now it was certain.

They would all pay with their lives.

***

That night, Bulma had tossed and turned in a restless slumber. Her mind troubled by her concern for Bra's well being. Vegeta had woken up some time ago by her fidgeting and was going to thoroughly chew her out when he saw her expression. Staring at her for several long moments, he made a decision.

He was going to observe and go from there.

Suddenly, almost instantly, the frown lines vanished from her visage and she calmed. Sitting bolt upright in the huge bed, she looked over at her husband with a triumphant expression.

"I have it! I know how to get Bra-chan free!"

Vegeta, still startled from her sudden movement, calmed his pulse and fixed her with a heated stare. "And that is?"

She reached out quickly and grabbing Vegeta in a hug before he protested. Giving in a little too easy, he actually went so far as to return the gesture of affection.

Leaning close to his ear she whispered in a suddenly tired voice. "Find the actual killer." And with that, she slowly faded into a peaceful sleep, her mind eased by that revelation.

Vegeta was about to put her back onto her side when he hesitated. Gathering his wife into arms, he pulled her close and joined her in the Land of Nod.

***

The man remained in the shadows as if he were born from them. He had come to Vanissa Neuveau at her request; to do a job that she could not do, to rectify a mistake that she had caused. He stood there, one with the darkness, observing all as he was taught. Nothing escaped his watchful gaze. Not the surveillance cameras in the corner, not the quiet hum of the radiator, not even the dust particles in the air.

This was exactly why the Vanissa thought that he was the long lost child of a vulture.

"So," she said softly as she continued to look him over. "do we have a deal?"

Slowly he nodded and took her proffered hand. "On your word, I will take him." His voice was gruff and enriched with experience. He had an underlying current of authority and power. He was indeed a man who knew his work.

She nodded as well. "Do what you will, just get him out of the way. He is straying."

"Yes ma'am."

***

"This is strange," Dr. Neuveau said in a hushed tone, "the printout said that there is no abnormal activity in her brain waves." She jotted that down into a notebook and tapped the pen against her chin. "Are the instruments failing?"

Dr. Wotokachi sighed deeply in annoyance. "Doctor, it says that because it is true. The girl is perfectly stable."

"Now, now," she reprimanded. "Let the machines diagnose the patient, Wotokachi. That's what they're for."

"But Neuveau..."

"Hush." She placed a finger against his lips. "It is time for the next test." Pressing a button on the control panel and adjusting the settings, she had Mari strap her into a chair that was remarkably similar to the one certain states in America used to administer corporal punishment. They all could tell that Bra thought so too by the way her eyes widened in fear.

"NO!" She screamed as she kicked and punched at that hated woman. "Don't kill me! I'm innocent!" Her words died off into an unintelligible series of highly pitched shrieks as she fought for all she was worth. But apparently all of that medication was kicking in because slowly her movement died until she failed to make any at all.

"Relax," Mari sneered. She was still ticked off about the punch. Unfortunately for Bra she *_had_* broken something. *_Two_* somethings in fact. The woman's jaw and her hold. On Bra. That last one didn't make Mari the least bit happy. "You're not going to die. Yet." She tightened the restraints firmly as she put a pair of strange looking goggles onto her head. Finally she signaled to the doctor that everything was ready and moved out of the way.

Neuveau flipped a large switch on the wall and began to cackle gleefully. "Soon I will be admired by all!"

Then the lights went out.

Unfortunately, the main fuse was still active. Bra's 'therapy' would now begin.

Bra moaned as the images assaulted her mind. She shuddered aginst bloody images, fought evil foes, and cried for loved ones departed.

It was like fighting Baby and the like all over again. But there was no one to hurt her in that building; for no reason anyway. That device in Dr. Neuveau's laboratory was tapping into her brain waves making memories arise. Memories that she definitely rather not live again.

All of the battles from the time that she was small onto to her years as an adult. From the large ones for the planet to the small ones between her parents all of them hurt her in many different ways on many different levels. And the 'good' doctor was making her go through it all again.

It continued on for a least a good part of the hour. When finally Dr. Neuveau had finally had her fill -- of both the readout and the torture -- she shut off the machine and motioned to Mari to remove the vision goggles.

Bra trembled violently from the mental onslaught. As soon as she was free of the restraints, she curled into a fetal position and wrapped her arms around her body. As Mari signaled for some medication to calm her down, she heard the faint mumblings from the horrified young woman.

"It was not real. My family's not in danger. It was not real. My family's not in danger..."

Mari shook her head at what she thought was nonsense. Walking to the other side of the room for a gurney to transport Bra back to her cell, Dr. Wotokachi got her attention. Making the special hand signals, she was informed to take the newly appointed patient to the psychiatric ward.

"Vanissa, you're hurting her!" Ken Wotokachi protested in a rage. "Stop these tests at once!"

The woman shot him a half-insane glare and turned to face him.

"It's all in the name of science, Ken! She should be proud to help advance it!"

She spun almost angrily and approached the large windows, placing her hands on the glass.

"Soon," she whispered softly. "Soon." Without turning around, she addressed a man that had been hidden in the shadows all of this time. "You may do what you please."

Then several more large, burly men entered the room upon that lone man's request. Grabbing a hold of Doctor Wotokachi, they dragged him off into the hallway.

"Vanissa! What are you doing?!" he screamed at her, fighting against his captors.

She turned then, a smile of gentle warmth crossing her face. On any other person it would have been soothing but on Vanissa, it was just down right scary. "You are no longer neeed," she said simply. "Goodbye."

"Wait Vanissa!" he still cried, the sound fading with the distance. "Wait!"

Her smile faded as soon as his voice was out of range and her face took on a tired look of long hours spent working. She stood there a few moments longer, thinking, until at last she went through the still open door, shutting it firmly behind her.

***

It's dripping. Dripping.... Dripping...

_Plop!_

Bra shuddered and covered her ears at the sound. She had been hearing it non-stop ever since they had stuck her in a padded room off in a dugeon like basement. It must have been raining outside because that drop was grating on her last nerves.

_Plop!_

"Why won't you just go away!" she sobbed as she burried her face deeper into her folded arms.

_Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!_

Her terrified and now recently disturbed mind magnified the sounds times thousands until all she could hear was the roar of her own sobs in her ears and the relentless dripping of that water down the stone wall.

_Plop!_

***

"Is this the prison where they took her?" Pan asked as she, Trunks, and her uncle hurried up the walkway.

"If it wasn't," Trunks began irritably, "would we be going up to the main door?"

Goten nodded after a minute of thought. "Good point."

Trunks blew at his bangs in frustration and ran even faster. The door banged open with the force of his pull and he confronted the tired, balding man behind the counter. He was dressed in a white dress shirt and an ugly green and brown striped tie.

"I'm here to see Bra Briefs," he said quickly, almost too quickly to understand. "Can I see her?"

"Iie," the flat answer startled them all. Pushing his glasses back onto his nose and pulling a pen from his front shirt pocket, he began to write something down.

"Why not?" Pan asked. "We really need to see if she's okay!" She walked forward to stand next to the purple haired man.

"It's next to impossible," he intoned as he continued to write his daily report. "She is to have no visitors."

"May I ask why?" Goten questioned.

He looked up then, fixing them with a steady gaze. The nametag that came into view read _Dave_ in bright bold letters.

"Earlier today she was pronounced insane and sent to the psychiatric ward. When someone is put in there, it is deemed hazardous to others to interact with them. *_No one_* can see her until she is released or sent back to the regular section."

There was shocked silence for a moment until Trunks broke it.

"My baby sister is crazy?" he asked in a whisper. Then the shock quickly turned to anger. "She wasn't that way when she came in here! You people did something to her!"

Dave jumped to his feet in an outrage. "Now wait a minute! She--"

And then a siren went off.

He spun immediately toward the intercom system and began to shout into it at a rapid pace. "What the hell is going on here?!"

The other three just blinked in confusion.

"It's the Ward!" A voice crackled in fright. "She's tryin' to escape!"

"Who?" he asked. "Who is it?!"

"That blue haired girl!"

"Bra!" Trunks breathed.

And then they took off for the other building.

***

Bra panted heavily as she ran through the hallways, ki blasting anyone who got into her way. Her white, cotton clothes, that they gave to her once she moved from the regular prison, were stained with sweat and torn from a fall that she took in the dark.

'_I have to get free! They won't get me. I won't let them!_' She shot at a few more people until she noticed the light filtering through the pathway up ahead.

"YES!" She shouted joyfully. "I'm almost free!" The ran full tilt toward the light that she considered hope and skidded to a stop when she realized that it was a dead end.

And the blessed sunlight was streaming through a window with metal bars covering it.

"NO!" She fell to her knees, sobbing. Pounding her fists onto the stone floor with each of her words. "No! No! No!"

Then she got an idea.

Climbing shakily to her feet, she charged up a ki blast learned from her father. Pointing her right arm forward, palm facing the window and wrist bent at a 90º angle, she steadied her aim and let the words fly.

"BIG BANG ATTACK!"

A beam of bright blue energy shot forth from her palm and hit the wall dead on, destroying it upon impact.

"HA!" She said triumphantly as she took to the air outside. "I'm going home! I'm finally going home!"

***

"Where do you think she's gone?" Pan asked frantically as the trio searched all around Satan City that afternoon.

"I know that she's not in her right mind due to the stupid prison!" Trunks said, furious. "But wait! She's probably too shook up to hide her ki so if we sense her, it should be okay."

They stood then, trying to detect any sign of her ki signature.

"Are you having any luck?" Goten asked them both.

"Iie," Pan sighed. "Tousan and Vegeta are dominant. Vegeta-ojisan is the one I can feel the best. He must be training."

Trunks nodded in agreement. "Hai. He must."

"Wait," Goten held up a hand, "I think I can sense her...." Goten closed his eyes in concentration and pointed off to the east. "Do you sense it too?"

Trunks and Pan focused where he pointed and nodded. "She *_is_* there," Pan breathed. "Let's go!"

They launched themselves into the sky and sped off to take Bra home.

***

"Kaasan! Tousan!" Bra shouted as she entered the front door of her home. "Tadaima!" She shut the door firmly behind her and walked through the entry hall into the parlor. There was no one to be found.

"Mama?" she asked hesitantly. "Papa? Where are you?!" She ran from room to room looking for her missing parents. She went on like this for a little while until she got a hold of herself. '_Bra!_' she berated herself. '_You're an adult not a little girl._' She started to walk back out into that empty hallway when the front door suddenly slammed. Shieking with fright, she ducking back into the dining room and scrambled underneath the table, making herself as small as possible.

And that was exactly where Pan, Goten, and Trunks found her.

"Bra!" Trunks exclaimed as he entered the room. "What's wrong?"

She gazed up at him with a tearstreaked face, not believing. "Niichan?"

Goten gasped softly in shock. "Those people *_did_* do something to her!"

Pan rushed to her friends' side, coaxing her out of her spot. "It's okay..." She said soothingly.. She turned her dark, worried eyes to Trunks in silent question.

Trunks picked Bra up and spoke in a firm voice. "You're not going back to that place. Ever."

Bra nodded faintly as she hugged her brother as tight as she could. Summoning up a smile she said the only thing on her mind, though somewhat sleepily.

"It's so good to be home."

***

"Trunks! Vegeta! Take a look at the news!" Bulma shouted the next afternoon, Still not quite the new year, there was already enough crime to qualify that one as the highest amount. Ever.

Trunks ran into the room and sat down on the sofa next to his mother and Vegeta followed more slowly. They both gasped as the newscaster began to talk about the latest murder.

"In Satan City today another citizen has been violently murdered. Here is Akira Fuusan on location with the report. Akira?"

The scene on the television then switched to a park that Trunks and his mother recognized immediately. It was only a couple of blocks away.

"Arigatou Mia. Last night, around eleven o'clock p.m., a Shuu Tatewaki was walking through the park on his way home. The whitness' said that he was brutally assaulted with an unidentifiable weapon and literally torn to shreds." Akira walked down a pathway toward a large tree. "He was then pinned through his chest with a large knife and left there to die."

All three of them could see the large, dark stain that obviously was his blood.

Bulma shuddered slightly. "How awful!"

Akira then moved to a group of bystanders to get some comments. "Sir? What can you tell us about this horrible incident?"

A tall man came into view with his face distorted for protection. "Hai. Well, we, my family and I, were driving by and we heard a loud noise like a rusty chain saw. In addition to the buzzing, you could hear the victim screaming and begging for mercy." He said all this with indifference like it really didn't matter one way or the other.

Then a thin woman ran up to face the camera. "I know who did it! I know who did it!" Her face was plainly in sight and her makeup was smudged from her sweat. "I ran all the way here to tell you once I see ya on t.v."

"Ma'am? Do you have some info that could help the police catch the criminal?" Akira moved the microphone towards the woman.

"Hai," she caught her breath and continued. "You know the murder last week? The one at the apartment building downtown?"

The newscaster nodded. "Hai. I do."

"Well the same person did this one too. Bra Briefs did it!"

Bulma and Trunks gasped loudly. "BRA!!"

Vegeta just clenched his fists and continued to watch.

"How can you be sure?" Akira asked. "Ms. Briefs was apprehended last week. How could she have done it if she was in prison the whole time?"

"Actually," another woman spoke up. She was clothed all in black and a trenchcoat obscured her face from view. "The Briefs girl escaped from prison last week."

Akira's eyes widened as he turned to face the camera. "And so you have it. The murderer from before is once again loose on the streets." His look became serious. "Are any of the citizens safe? Who will be next? I am Akira Fuusan for the twelve o'clock news. Now back to the studio."

Bulma shut the television off and leaned back into the sofa in shock.

Trunks jumped to his feet and went upstairs. "I'm going to prove to them that Bra didn't do it!"

A few minutes later he returned with a distraught look on his face. "She's not in her room or in the house at all! Where could she be?!"

The sound of the front door opened startled them all. "Kaasan! Tousan! Trunks! I'm back!"

She soon came into the room carrying a large grocery bag.

"Bra? Where did you go?" Vegeta finally spoke for the first time that day.

"I went to the store down the street," she took off her coat and placed it on the chair along with the paper bag. "Why?"

Then Bulma noticed something odd. "What's on your shirt?"

Bra looked at the dark spot and lifted her shirt to sniff at it. "Well, it smells like blood." she said nonchalantly.

Bulma made a strangeled choking sound and fainted right then and there.

"Oh Bra!" Trunks whispered sadly.

"Nani? What are you guys talking about? Why did Kaasan faint?!"

Vegeta got to his feet and grabbed his youngest by her shoulders. "You don't remember? You honestly don't remember?"

"Remember what? Was it important?"

The sound of loud knocking broke the silence.

"Open up!" a gruff voice shouted. "This is the police!"

"You're going to have to go with them Bra-chan," her brother said softly. "You have to."

"NO!!" she yelled fearfully. "Don't make me! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Vegeta went to open the door after making his mate more comfortable. "She's in there," he said indifferently.

Bra tried to run away but Trunks held her in place. "I'm so, so sorry Bra," he said brokenly.

She glared at him fiercely as the officers came closer and closer. "I will never forgive you for this Trunks. Nor you *_Father_*," she spat out. "I hate you both!"

As she was handcuffed and led to the waiting patrol car, both Vegeta and Trunks knew they had done the correct thing to do in a situation like this.

But why did it hurt so bad?

***

The door clicked shut as Bra approached the woman sitting at the table. Her head was bowed and she looked utterly miserable.

Just how Mari wanted it.

"You're back," she spoke softly as she raised her hazel eyes to meet Bra's blank and unexpressive blue ones.

This received no response from the other.

Mari shrugged at this. No matter. She didn't need to talk for this final test. "You're going on a little trip," she said calmly. "The doctor will be most happy to see you again."

The reaction from this was most impressive.

Bra came to life all at once. Her anger triggered her ki and it began to rise all at once.

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE ME AGAIN TO THAT HELL!" she screamed as her rage reached a critical point. Her aura flickered around her bathing her in a bright golden glow as the beginnings of something amazing took place.

The change came first to her hair. The soft blue locks were gone, slowly being replace with the spiky, blond hair that was trademark to all persons of her power.

Next was her eyes. They changed from their present bright blue color to the blue-green color that they were to become.

Her face displayed the smirk that was so common to members of Vegeta's family as she slowly stepped toward the woman at the table.

She was strong. She was proud.

She was super saiyan.

"Ah ah ah!" Mari said as she shook her index finger in Bra's general direction. "Not so fast Ms. Super Saiyan."

Bra blinked in confusion. "What are you talking about now?"

"Don't think that I'm stupid enough *_not_* to prepare for this!" She stood and walked over to the wall. "You wound me!"

Pushing a button she continued. "I'm not just an assistant to Dr. Neuveau I am also a researcher. I've searched far and wide for a little remedy to this situation." She quickly pulled out a spray bottle that was concealed in the small nook that the button she had pressed opened up. She sprayed the thick mist out into the room that left Bra coughing. Covering her face with a cloth, she waited until Bra had passed out to remove it.

"Ha! I knew it would work!"

***

It was late that night. The night that Bra was taken to jail for the second time. The night that they had all started to believe that she really *_was_* a murderer.

No one in the house could sleep at all that night. Around three a.m. Bulma was awakened by her subconcious motherly intuition that something had happened to one of her children. She gently got out of bed and went downstairs trying not to wake up her mate. She soon discovered that her son was having about the same problem.

"Kaasan," he said quietly without even bothering to look up. "I feel terrible about what I've done to her."

Bulma sat down next to him and put an arm around his shoulders. "I know you do but there wasn't a way that you could have stopped it. Besides more murder of course."

He looked up then, straight into his mothers gentle eyes. "I still think that Goten, Pan, and I should find the real killer. I still can't believe that she's done that!"

Bulma smiled sadly as she spoke. "Trunks, all I can tell you is to listen to your heart." She tapped him on the chest. "It'll never lead you astray."

Trunks brightened almost instantly and hugged her. "Arigatou! I know what I have to do now!"

The doorbell's chime broke into his words. With an annoyed grunt, he went to answer it.

"Konichi-wa?" he said peering into the predawn gloom. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Trunks Briefs?" a shadowed figure asked softly.

"Hai."

"Then you most certainly can."

Trunks cocked his head curiously at this strange comment but didn't question it any further. Motioning with his right hand he bade him entrance.

"Trunks honey?" Bulma called as she entered the hall. "Who's at the door this early in the morning?"

"That's a very good question Kaasan. Who are you?"

The man removed the hood of his coat and the light from the kitchen shone into his brown eyes making them appear as if they were glowing. "I am Ken Wotokachi. One of the psychiatrists that had been attending to your sister." He stepped fully into the light and a large scar that was horizontally slashed across his face from the top of his right eyebrow to his left cheek instantly caught their attention.

Bulma gasped softly as she stepped closer to him. For some reason she felt drawn. "What happened to your face?"

He snorted and spoke in a bitter tone. "A henchman of Dr. Neuveau's. She is the one that hurt Bra but all is not what it seems. I am here to help you get her out."

They spoke for long hours about the "tests" and the treatment. Some point during the conversation, Vegeta had made an appearance and he listened intently to all of Vanissa Neuveau's sins.

The whole discussion lasted until the first rays of the sun broke through the haze that blanketed Satan City and Ken stood up and stretched.

"I think that she has more to do with those murders than she lets on."

"Why do you say that?" Bulma said as she started to heat water for tea.

He sighed. "She justs seems a little too eager to harm her. Like she was getting revenge for something."

Vegeta's attention removed itself from his silent contemplation as he addressed the issue at hand. "She might be. Bra could have done something to her in the past."

"So?" Trunks said. "That's still no reason to hurt her!"

"I agree. But she may not be in her right mind." Ken sipped thoughtfully at the green tea Bulma had recently placed in front of him. "Before she had that man get rid of me, she was so absorbed in her work. So joyful. She claimed that it was all for science but that is not a good enough reason. Bra had no mental illnesses that medical science did not already no of so why was she doing this at all? It makes no sense."

Trunks finished off his cup and spoke slowly. "Well, today I'm going down there with my friends. We'll just see what that doctor has to say ourselves."

***

"Let me out!" Bra shouted as she pounded on the nearly invisible reinforced glass of the large container that Vanissa had her trapped in. After that gas had knocked her out somehow it reversed the super saiyan powerup and also kept her from achieving it again. In fact, it kept her from powering up at all.

Vanissa laughed cruelly at the trapped girl. "You are *_not_* going to get away this time! I guarantee it!"

Bra finally gave up and sank to the bottom of the tank. "Why? Why are you doing this?" she asked trying to stall for time. "What have you got to gain?"

"Everything my dear. Everything!" She strode swiftly over to stand by her side. "I'm just making things even between us. You screw me over, you die for it. It's all fair!"

"You're crazy!" Bra said as she shook her head. "Totally insane!"

"Maybe so. But at least I can still live with it!" She pulled the switch on the wall and the tank slowly filled with water. She also pulled another one that allowed a small gate to be opened and some fish dumped in.

"Now," she started. "you *_do_* have a choice in this."

"How so?" Bra asked suspiciously.

"You get to choose how you die!" The doctor chuckled at her joke and pointed to the water. "You can either drown or," she pointed to a fish, "the hungry piranhas will tear you apart. Which will it be?" She began to laugh insanely as she walked away. "Take your time, you have a while. Or do you?" This set off a whole new round of laughter as she exited the room.

"Oh kami!" she started to panic as she frantically tried to get away from those evil fish. She levitated slightly into the air, successfully putting herself out of their reach.

'_I can't keep doing this for long!_' she thought to herself. '_It would be nice if someone would help me right now!_' She then thought about how she was arrested. '_But I know no one would come. I'm on my own in this._'

She then got an idea. By using her momentum, she rammed her shoulder repeatedly into the side of the tank knocking it over completely.

"Whoo hoo!" She shouted happily as she saw the fish flop out away from her. "I'm free again!"

"Hold it right there!" Vanissa shouted from the doorway. "I *_do_* have a plan B."

Bra sighed. "Do you now? Are you going to poison me? Or maybe you're going to chop me up into itty bitty pieces?"

"Neither." She did pulled out a small remote control and pushed a button on it. Two halves of the floor began to seperate and a greenish colored pool was revealed.

"Oh!" Bra exclaimed sarcastically. "You're going to make me drink your nasty looking liquid aren't you?"

"Not even close." Putting two fingers inside of her mouth, the air soon filled with an earsplitting whistle. "I'll let Martha have you."

"Martha? What's a Martha?"

Then a huge, slimy reptilian creature leapt out of the bubbling water. It's green scales were shining in the overhead lights and it's fangs were just dripping in saliva with the anticipation of the tasty meal it would soon receive.

"This," Vanissa said proudly, "is Martha."

***

"She's behind all of this!" Trunks said as he, Goten, and Pan ran towards the prison building.

"You believed that man?" Goten asked, shocked. "This could be a trap!"

"But we don't have any other leads," Pan said. "I think we *_should_* listen to him!"

They approached the tall fence warily, on to lookout of guards. Seeing no one in sight besides the sleeping man in the booth, they quickly flew over the fence and took off once more toward the buildings.

Bypassing the front desk completely, they ran towards the area where they knew that the psychiatric patients were held.

Vanissa Neuveau was indeed there.

"Bra!" Trunks shouted as he saw her trying to kill that creature. He spun swiftly toward Vanissa as Pan and Goten tried to help their friend.

"Onna," he said seeing red, "what have you done to my little sister?"

She looked at him, unafraid, and rolled her eyes. "Nothing that bad. Compared to what she has done to me of course."

Trunks looked at her in confusion. "What did she do to you?"

"You don't remember?! You were there too!"

"What are you talking about onna?"

Vanissa's eyes turned to a faraway look as she spoke of the incident.

"I used to live in the same neighborhood as you guys. Bra used to be my best friend until she did something awful that hurt my feelings...."

**_" 'Nissa!" a Chibi Bra said as she saw her friend coming across the street towards her. The other girl was a few years older and was clutching a Barbie doll in one small fist. "Do you want to play?"_

_"Sure!" 'Nissa smiled as she sat down on the ground next to her. "It's my turn to be the princess!"_

_"Iie!" Bra shouted. "It's my turn! You were the princess last time!"_

_'Nissa she her head so hard that her curls bounced all around. "I was not!"_

_"Was too!"_

_"Was not!"_

_"Was too! Was too! Was too!" And then Bra snatched her doll and grabbed her head in one chubby hand, yanking her head off cruelly. "GO HOME! I hope you never come back!" Bra stood and glared down at her._

_Seventeen year old Trunks raised an eyebrow at the whole incident. He was supposed to be sparring with his Tousan at the moment but he had heard the yelling and had come to see what was wrong.**_

"What you had done hurt me deeply. I knew then that I would be mad at you for a while. But you didn't stop there...."

_**Vanissa was moving away to France that next week, the country were she was born. Her mother had gotten transfered and she, her Tousan, and her brother had to go too._

_All day while the movers were loading their things she waited for Bra to come over to say goodbye. She had told her in school that she was going but it received no comment. Finally it was time to go and Bra had still not shown up._

_As she climbed into her family's minivan and they drove away on a route that would take them past the Capsule Corporation, she wondered if she would ever see Bra again. Then, as she looked out of the window suddenly, she saw it._

_There was Bra, in the middle of the sidewalk, holding a large computer generated banner that said in a large, bold font: "GOOD RIDDANCE! I HOPE YOU NEVER COME BACK!!". Vanissa quickly turned her head away so that no one would see her tears.**_

Bra flew away from the monster and touched down in front of Vanissa. "You're still mad at me for something that I did when I was five?" she said in a amazed voice. Then it rose in wonder. "What is wrong with you?!"

"You hurt me!" Vanissa said in anguish. "I cried for days afterward!"

"Well geez, gomen nasai..."

The doctor shook her head. "It's *_way_* too late for that! The only way for you to be cleansed of your sins is to die!"

"Bra's right!" Pan shouted over as she dodged a claw swipe. "You are a few sandwiches short of a picnic!"

"Hey!" Goten said loudly, interrupting things and bringing everyone's attention back to Neuveau's creation. "Are you two going to help us here?"

"Of course!" Bra and Trunks went to join them as Vanissa continued on.

"I searched for you again. It wasn't that hard seeing as you haven't moved at all. I finally can get revenge!"

Then another person entered Neuveau's House of Horrors. It was Ken. Her former ally.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Dr. Wotokachi. I suspect that it is you who lead these annoyances here."

"You are correct. I refused to let you get the better of me." He whistled sharply and all present wondered what the heck was he doing. "These people would definitely like to have a word with you..."

A whole collection of SWAT team members filed into the room in a neat line. "She's over there," Ken pointed to the now shaken doctor.

"I will get you for this!" She shrieked as they dragged her away. "She deserved all of this! She deserved it!"

The other four saiyans continued to fight that reptile. It was easy enough to kill once it's master was gone. Martha just sort of went into shock as a rush of pain bombarded her from all sides. Bra delivered the final blow, severing all of it's ties to existance."

"She was linked to Vanissa," Ken said answering questions unasked. "Once her master had left this room, her whole system collapsed."

Bra smiled tiredly at the group. "Well, I think we did a pretty good job. How about you guys?"

They all walked towards the door to leave as Trunks thought of something.

"Is there anything else you should tell me? More potential enemies you've made angry at you?"

"Nah," Bra said. Then her smiled grew brighter. "But I did go super saiyan."

Trunks nodded distractedly until her words sank in. "NANI?!"

**~OWARI~**

* * *

I didn't even have any footnotes! Comments are appreciated!

A note about the Portal to Beyond: I'm going to add an epilogue to the last chapter for two reasons:  
- It'll make it longer  
- It will make the side story flow right because I end so abruptly.

So if you read chapter XXI (21), you might want to read it again once I repost it with the epilogue.


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